How to Make a Living Will in Colorado: Step-by-Step Without a Lawyer

Colorado law explicitly allows you to create your own living will without an attorney. The forms are standardized by statute, and the execution requirements — while strict on witness eligibility — are straightforward once you know the rules. Here is exactly how to do it, from the first decision to the final signature.

Step 1: Understand What You Are Actually Creating

You need two documents, not one. A living will (Declaration as to Medical or Surgical Treatment) records your treatment preferences. A Medical Durable Power of Attorney (MDPOA) names the person who makes decisions when you cannot communicate. Most people think of these as a package, but they are legally separate documents with different execution rules.

The living will activates only when two physicians certify you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious. The MDPOA covers every other medical situation. Completing just one of them leaves a significant gap.

Step 2: Choose Your Healthcare Agent

Before filling out any forms, decide who will serve as your MDPOA agent. This person needs three qualities: the willingness to follow your wishes even under family pressure, the emotional composure to make decisions in a hospital setting, and reasonable availability — they need to be reachable when a crisis happens.

Name at least one alternate agent. If your primary agent is traveling, sick, or simply unreachable, the alternate steps in immediately without court involvement.

Your agent cannot serve as one of your living will witnesses, so plan your witness list around this.

Step 3: Make Your Treatment Decisions

Colorado's living will requires you to address three specific categories:

Mechanical ventilation and life support. State whether you want these measures continued, withdrawn, or never initiated if you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious.

Artificial nutrition and hydration. The Colorado statutory form gives you three options: (a) withdraw feeding tubes entirely, (b) maintain them for a trial period you specify, or (c) continue them indefinitely. Initial next to the option you choose.

Other life-sustaining procedures. This covers any medical intervention that prolongs life when the underlying condition is irreversible. You can accept all, refuse all, or specify which interventions you accept.

Write your decisions clearly. Vague language like "no extraordinary measures" creates interpretation disputes. Be specific: "I refuse mechanical ventilation if I am diagnosed with a terminal condition with six months or less to live."

Step 4: Complete the Forms

Fill in your full legal name, date of birth, and address on both documents. On the MDPOA, enter your primary agent's full name, address, and phone number, plus the same for your alternate agent. Select whether authority is standing (immediate) or springing (only upon certified incapacity).

On the living will, initial your choices for each treatment category and add any additional instructions in the space provided.

Step 5: Execute the Documents

The MDPOA does not legally require witnesses or notarization in Colorado. Sign and date it. However, adding notarization strengthens its acceptance, especially if your agent ever needs to present it out of state.

The living will requires one of two options:

• Two disinterested adult witnesses who watch you sign, then sign the document themselves
• A notary public who acknowledges your signature

The witness path has strict disqualifications: no family members by blood, marriage, or adoption; no healthcare providers; no facility employees; no estate beneficiaries; and not your healthcare agent. If finding two eligible witnesses is difficult — which it often is in a hospital or care facility — use the notary-only path under C.R.S. § 15-18-106(1)(b). A mobile notary typically costs $10-$25.

Step 6: Distribute and Store the Signed Documents

Signed documents are worthless if no one can find them during an emergency. Distribute copies to your healthcare agent and alternate agent, your primary care physician's office, any hospital system where you receive care (UCHealth, Kaiser, Banner Health), and keep an original in a known, accessible location at home — not a safe deposit box, which may be inaccessible during a crisis.

If you want to protect against CPR in a home emergency, talk to your doctor about a separate CPR Directive or MOST form — the living will does not instruct EMTs.

Make It Easier With a Complete Kit

The Colorado Advance Directive & Living Will Kit walks you through every step above with Colorado-specific templates, a witness screening checklist, an agent briefing worksheet, and a document distribution tracker to ensure your signed directives reach everyone who needs them.

See more Colorado guides →